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, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. GILBERT AND JOHN A. FEATHER, OF ATHENS, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-HALF TO JOSEPH IVINS CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,017, dated April 12, 1881.

Application filed September 10, 1am. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J. W. GILBERT and J. A. PRATHER, citizens of the United States, residing at Athens, in the county of McMinn and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplings; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to construct a simple and effective car-coupling, more es pecially intended for freight-cars, sodesigned that it will automatically couple, and that it may be uncoupled from the top of the car, as well as from either side thereof, without going 7 between the cars.

To these ends the invention consists in certain combinations set forth in claims at the close of this specification, and made up out of .mechanical devices of which the following are the principal: A draw-headlongitudinally slot ted both at top and bottom, two grooved vertical guide-posts on the draw-head, a'couplingpin constructed with a cross-bar at its upper end,-adaptedto slide up and down in the grooved guides and to serve as a pivot on which the pin can swing, a lifter-rod reaching showing a link in the draw-head engaged by the coupling-pin. Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation, showing the coupling-pin lifted so as to free the link 3 and Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the coupling-pin detached.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The draw-head A maybe of the'general construction and contour shown in the drawings.

Its bottom is constructed with a narrow longitudinalslot, a, and its top wall has a similar narrow longitudinal slot, at. These slots are in the same vertical planes, and are made wide enough to admit of 'free play of the couplingpin B, which is designedto extend through said slots across the cavity of the draw-head. The coupling-pin is constructed with a crossbar, 13, near its upper end, which is fitted in vertical grooves c in the adjacent sides of the guide-posts O 0, formed or secured upon the top of the draw-head. The coupling-pin is supported by its cross-bar and the guides, but can freely swing, said cross-bar serving as a pivot. The guide-grooves care about in line with the forward ends of the slots a a, so that as the pin is drawn upon by link D it will rest solidly against the ends of said slots. The guidegrooves are open on top in order that the pin may be withdrawn and introduced. Means are provided to prevent the pin from being withdrawn accidentally, and these means consist, in this instance, of spring-clasps GC, hinged at their rear ends to the respective guidebars, and provided with snaps at their forward ends to lock on the guide-bars.

A chain, E, attached to the head of the coupling-pin passes upward through the handle of the lifter-rod F, and is secured to the top of the car. The lifter-rod slides in staples or other guides in the end of the car, and is, in this instauce, constructed with a [bifurcated lower end, so that it may stand with its prongs on the respective guide-bars O G and find a support thereon when in its lowest positiom A lever, Gr, pivoted to one of the prongs of the lifter-rod and fulcrumed by a pin, g, to the end of the car, extends laterally to one side of the car, while a similar lever, G, pivoted to the other prong of the lifter rod and fulcrumed by a stud, g, on the end of the car, extends laterally to the other side of such car.

In order that the levers G G may be located at any convenient height, I form a series of holes, h,in the end of the car,in either of which the fnlcra-pins may be placed. The holes in the levers through which the fulcra-pins pass are somewhat elongated, to provide for the re quired end-play of the said levers.

The operation of our coupling is as follows, supposing the position of the parts to be as shown in Fig. 1, except that there is no link in the draw-head: If, now, a car with a link in its draw-head approach, the link thereof will enter the draw-head, and in doing so push the coupling-pin back before it until the end of the link passes the end of said pin, when the latter will immediately swing forward, confining the link so that it cannot be withdrawn. Thelink may be disengaged by lifting the coupling-pin to the position shown in Fig. 2, and this may be accomplished by lifting the lifterrod from a point on the top of the car, or from either side thereof, by operating one or the other of the levers Gr and G.

It will be seen that our invention obviates the necessity of going between the cars for uncoupling purposes.

This improved car-coupling will operate with the ordinary pin-and-lin k coupling now in common use.

a If the cavity of the draw-head be made comparatively shallow, the link will be carried in an approximately horizontal position, so as to insure the automatic couplingof cars. Crooked links must be used when coupling cars of uneven height.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is- 1. The combination, substantially as 'before set forth, of the slotted draw-head, theswinging coupling-pin constructed with a cross-bar near its upper end, the vertical grooved guides, the chain, and the lifter-rod.

2. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of the slotted draw-head, the swinging coupling-pin constructed with a cross-bar nearits upper end, the vertical grooved guides, the chain, the lifter-rod, and the levers extending to the respective sides of the'car.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. GILBERT. JOHN A. PRATHER. Witnesses:

J. H. LUSK, I. O. MANSFIELD. 

